I am a former stay-at-home mom who has given up her hopes and dreams of becoming a professional reader. I now spend my days showing small children how to play games on computers. Right now I'm living vicariously through my 9 year-old who is reading everything she can get her hands on.

So far I'm finding this book to be dark and gritty. The author creates an atmosphere that oozes back alley intrigue. I must say I find this Walsingham to be rather reminiscent of Geoffrey Rush's portrayal from the movie Elizabeth. A portrayal which is top of the list in my opinion.

I have spent a great deal of time searching for a Tudor era series as compelling as Sansom's Shardlake novels. It appears that with Clement's Shakespeare, I may have finally found something worthy of comparison. Of course, I'm only 15% of the way into the novel so I'm setting myself up to be slightly disappointed as this a first novel.